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North America—
At the forest marking the border between the United States and the Chaos Zone, red flames churned overhead, swallowing the sky above the trees.
Creak! Creak!
Fifteen-meter-tall giant metal machines, shaped like spiders, probed their way along the uneven forest floor with long, razor-sharp legs.
Their single red eyes spun constantly, scanning as if searching for something.
Meanwhile... on a low slope that hadn't yet been touched by the flames. A blond vampire in a snow-white suit and blue bow tie watched the mechanical spider troops with a thoughtful gaze.
He was Dimitrie Vatler, a vampire duke of the Warlord's Empire.
"The Chaos Zone's Rose mechanical units… When the old man sent me to investigate, he didn't say the Chaos Bride would unleash these things."
Vatler frowned, his expression growing heavy as he looked at the machines sweeping the forest.
These autonomous weapons were powerful enough to rival the weakest Primogenitor familiars.
"Come on… this has to be basically the Chaos Bride's entire fortune, right?"
Vatler's tone was casual, but his eyes remained sharp as he studied the massive spider machines.
"Lord Vatler? Should we keep investigating?"
One of his subordinates asked nervously, sweat pouring down his face.
"If we clash with the Rose forces here, win or lose, won't the Chaos Zone treat us as enemies?"
"That's true," Vatler replied with a grin, excitement flickering in his eyes.
"With our current strength, we can't defeat the Rose troops. With numbers like that, we'd be lucky just to escape."
"But…"
He deliberately dragged out the word. "...Why would we fight the Rose troops head-on?"
"You mean…?" The subordinate stared at him in disbelief.
Vatler smiled, "I'm curious what kind of thing could draw the attention of both the old man and the Chaos Bride at the same time."
The subordinate finally understood.
Vatler was planning to snatch the prize while the autonomous forces were busy searching for it.
"My lord, isn't that too dangerous?" the subordinate asked anxiously.
Vatler didn't answer. He simply turned his head and fixed his gaze on one of the autonomous machines.
About two seconds later, his eyes widened.
"Don't you dare!" With a furious roar, a twenty-meter-tall black wolf burst out of the burning forest. It lunged at one of the autonomous machines, fangs and claws colliding with metal. The impact sent both of them crashing backward with a thunderous boom.
"Beastification? How is there a high-ranking beastman like that in this forest?" one of Vatler's men exclaimed in shock.
"There!"
Vatler's eyes lit up. His body scattered in an instant, dissolving into countless golden bats that shot toward the direction where the beastman had appeared.
He moved faster than the other Rose units, reaching the destination first.
Passing through several burning trees, Vatler spotted a small hill, and beneath it, a bear's den.
"A human?"
Vatler stared in surprise at the figure curled up inside, trembling.
It was a girl wearing a white formal dress. Her cheeks and arms, tanned to a wheat-like hue, were smeared with soot. Fear filled her eyes. She couldn't have been more than eighteen.
Not bothering to think further, Vatler immediately concluded that she was the target both the Chaos Bride and the Lost Warlord were after.
He summoned his familiar.
A silver-gray demonic serpent rose from the ground out of thin air. It snapped its jaws around the girl without biting down, lifting her gently yet firmly, and shot upward into the sky.
At the same time, Vatler, still in bat form, flew alongside it.
Almost instantly. Hundreds of red beams rained down on the hill, erasing it and the surrounding land in a blinding flash.
...
A kilometer away - Atop a wingless serpent soaring through the sky.
The golden bats converged on the serpent's head, reforming into Vatler's battered figure.
He patted the shoulder that had been pierced clean through by a laser, then glanced at the flattened terrain in the distance and clicked his tongue. "That was close."
"Who are you?" At this moment, a puzzled voice spoke up.
Vatler lowered his head. From his angle, he could see the girl's face where she was held in his familiar's mouth.
"That's my line, actually, beautiful lady."
He gave a graceful bow and smiled warmly. "May I have the honor of knowing your name?"
The blond, wheat-skinned girl was silent for a moment before answering,
"Celesta. Celesta Ciate."
"So it's Miss Celesta."
A strange glint flashed through Vatler's eyes.
Her spirit medium sensitivity was faint. There was no unusual power about her, no signs of training. Her posture and physical strength were completely ordinary. This kind of person was so unremarkable he wouldn't even bother drinking her blood. Why would someone like her draw the attention of two Primogenitors? Vatler wondered.
"Things are a bit sudden, but I hope you'll cooperate with me and avoid those pursuers," he said smoothly.
"I understand. I'll do my best to cooperate."
Celesta lowered her gaze slightly as she spoke.
'Just like the ones who attacked my tribe and killed the chief, this man is also a vampire…' Hatred flickered in her evasive eyes.
She wasn't stupid.
The ones who destroyed her home and the one who rescued her were both vampires. How could she not sense something was wrong?
If those novels Grandpa Chief used to read to me are anything to go by, this is what they call 'a hero saving the maiden,' or staging it all themselves… Damn vampires. They destroyed my home and now they want to trick me too…
Hatred burned in her eyes, then quickly disappeared.
After losing everything overnight, she had learned to bury her true emotions, no matter how painful the cost.
She wanted revenge, but she also knew she could only lie low for now.
So for the moment, all she could do was play along and pretend to be clueless.
The two of them, each harboring different intentions yet looking like a husband and wife, flew through the sky for a while before noticing something strange.
"…We seem to have flown back," Vatler muttered.
He narrowed his eyes at the burning forest and the Rose forces within it.
"How could that be?" Celesta said, startled.
And then—
Caw! Caw!
Harsh, crow-like cries echoed through the air.
One by one, giant pterosaurs emerged from all directions, filling the sky and surrounding Vatler.
"These are… familiars?"
Vatler identified them instantly.
Then he felt a surge of magic and hurriedly looked up.
High above. Slightly offset above Vatler's position.
A massive griffin-like beast with a lion's head and an eagle's body spread its wings and glided through the sky.
Standing atop it was a woman with alluring purple hair tied into twin tails. Her features bore a faint resemblance to Asagi Aiba, but her expression was icy and detached.
Vatler swallowed, shock filling his voice.
"How is this possible…"
"The Second Primogenitor… Aswad-Guul Aziz…"
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